It’s been a strange follow-up season to the men’s tennis Huskies’ first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies started the season 3-0, dropped two, won two, and dropped one. Things looked good as the Huskies finished their Spring Break trip in Florida with an 8-1 drubbing of the typically strong Indianapolis Greyhounds. Now, though the Huskies (6-8 overall, 0-5 GLIAC) are in the midst of a five-match losing streak after the 6-3 loss to the Lake Superior State Lakers.
The Huskies have struggled so badly during the road portion of their GLIAC schedule, they now sit at the bottom of the conference with just two matches left, Saturday against the Tiffin Dragons and Sunday against the Findlay Oilers. Both matches will be within the friendly confines of the Gates Tennis Center.
The Dragons come into Saturday’s match 4-10 overall and 0-4 in GLIAC play. First-year head coach Phil Conley is still trying to help his squad figure out its identity.
Freshman Luiz Carvalho (6-10 overall) is 5-9 in the number one singles’ spot. Senior Harry Smith has posted a 4-6 record in the number two spot. Sophomore Andres Torres (7-8 overall) has played well in the number three slot, going 5-7 in dual matches thus far. Freshman Leonid Vladimirov (5-11 overall) has struggled in the number four slot, going 3-7. Freshman Brian Coffman (8-8 overall) has been the most successful Dragons’ singles player, going 7-6 in the number five spot. Sophomore Santiago Revelo (5-9 overall) has put up a 3-5 record at number six singles.
The Oilers have only played eight matches this season, going 4-4 overall, but they have yet to win in two GLIAC matches thus far. The Oilers are extremely young, with no upperclassmen on the roster at all.
Sophomore Kyle Collette has spent the season in the top slot for head coach Tomas Menec. Freshman Dawid Hebda is the in the number two singles slot. Freshman Josh Smedley is the number three singles’ player and classmates Bryan Simard and Brian Little make up the four and five spots, respectively. Sophomore David Brooks is the sixth singles player.
For the Huskies, junior David Heuer continues to get stronger as the season progresses, posting another win over the Lakers on Friday. He is now 7-4 on the season in the number three slot.
The top doubles pairing of sophomores Luka Stupar and Douglas Yossida improved their record to 7-8 on the season with their win on Friday.
The second doubles team of Heuer and sophomore Anders Sandholm also won Friday to improve their overall record to 7-5 on the season, and 7-4 when playing in the number two slot.
The Huskies will need more production from their lower-seeded players, Yossida, junior Chris Verhulst, and senior Tim Viola, in order to finally get a win or two in GLIAC play this weekend.
The Saturday match against Tiffin will be at 11 a.m. and the Sunday match will take place at 11 a.m. as well.

Despite not making the WCHA Final Five or the NCAA Tournament, the hockey season has continued for a pair of Huskies looking to latch on to the professional ranks. Captain Malcolm Gwilliam and defenseman Drew Dobson both signed Amateur Tryout agreements with teams in the ECHL.
Gwilliam (14-16=30) signed his agreement with the Reading Royals, an affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boson Bruins, on Mar. 17. The Kamloops, British Columbia, native played parts of five seasons for the Huskies over the course of his career and posted 72 points in doing so.
Gwilliam played in five games for the Royals, but couldn’t find the net. He did pick up two penalty minutes. The Royals posted a 3-2-0 record with Gwilliam in the lineup. He was released from his ATO on Mar. 30.
Dobson (4-12=16) signed on with the Gwinnett Gladiators on Mar. 18. A native of Palatine, IL, Dobson developed into a offensive defenseman at Michigan Tech, notching 12 career goals and 57 career points, most of which came while playing the point.
Thus far, Dobson has played in five games for the Gladiators and picked up four penalty minutes. He has nine shots on goal in those five games. The Gladiators have gone 2-3-0 with Dobson in the lineup.

The top-seeded Michigan Tech Huskies came on strong in the second half to earn a 69-49 win over the eighth-seeded Northern Kentucky Norse in quarterfinal action at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Read the full story

After defeating Northwood (78-52), Lake Superior State (72-43) and Northern Michigan (73-69) for the GLIAC Championship, the Michigan Tech Huskies have earned the right to host the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional tournament this weekend. Read below for full coverage throughout the tournament, including a tournament overview, updated tournament brackets, links to all game recaps and a Michigan Tech tournament profile (and links to other team profiles).

Read the full story

As they continue to search for their second trip to the NCAA Tournament in three years, the women’s tennis Huskies travel this weekend to face a pair of regional opponents in the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles and the Bellarmine Knights.

Read the full story

“Unexpected but fabulous,” said senior Kaari Nevanen when describing the Michigan Tech volleyball team’s 2009 season. The team compiled a 10-6 GLIAC record and a 14-15 overall record, that earned them a spot in the GLIAC Tournament and a shot at the NCAA Championship, when they were selected as one of 64 teams to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Said Nevanen, “I don’t think people expected us to do well,” but as Veronica Armstrong put it, “externally, we knew that the support wasn’t there, but internally, we knew it was there.” The Huskies came off of a competitive 2008 season that saw a 12-4 GLIAC and 19-11 overall record. The team also lost the “twin towers,” Jen and Christa Jung, in addition to both front and back row talents like Kelly Jorgensen, Kelsey Skoog, and Ashley Nyenhuis.

Read the full story

After a first-round exit from the GLIAC tournament, few people gave the Huskies a chance at even making it to the NCAA tournament. Despite their 14-14 overall record, Michigan Tech did make the tournament after all, locking up the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Regional. Unfortunately, they had to face the No. 1 tournament host, the Indianapolis Greyhounds. While Michigan Tech kept each set of Thursday night’s match close, the Greyhounds improved upon their 35-1 record with a 3-0 victory over Michigan Tech, 25-20, 25-19, 25-20.

Read the full story

The Michigan Tech volleyball team (14-14) was one of 64 teams selected to the NCAA Tournament, despite falling 3-1 in the first round of the GLIAC Conference Tournament match against Saginaw Valley State University last Wednesday, Nov. 10.
Michigan Tech was led by two double-double performances from Kristine Sexton (15 kills and 10 digs) and Madeline Haben (33 assists and 16 digs) in their away match with the Cardinals. Senior Kaari Nevanen matched Haben’s 16 digs, and together the two women combined for half of the team’s passes. Digging efforts alone were not enough to overcome poor hitting accuracy. The Huskies hit 21 percent in game one to take the set 25-22, before their tenacity cooled.
Game two proved close with the teams tied at 24, but Saginaw Valley was able to close it out, thanks to a kill from their Kait Harris, and a stray Husky kill. While Michigan Tech continued to struggle in games three and four, the Cardinals hit their stride, defeating the Huskies 25-14 in each game to take the set 3-1.
“We went into [Saginaw], and we executed well early. And I think we were surprised at how easy it was,” said head coach Orlando Gonzalez. “We lost our focus and didn’t really have the killer instinct to put the team away. I think we’ve got to finally believe that we belong to play at this level.”
The Huskies earned the last spot in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Seeded eighth, Michigan Tech will play No. 1-seeded University of Indianapolis.
“We’ve just got to play more consistently,” said Gonzalez. “We’ve got to play better defense. They’re a very tough defensive team. We’ve got to be able to match their team.”
Coming off of a Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships (GLVC), the 35-1 Greyhounds will be hosting their first ever Regional Tournament. Ranked ninth in the nation, they are led by freshman Kristina Kerrigan and junior Lyndsay Callahan who average 2.97 and 2.68 kills per game. Sophomore Kristina Hefferan is also over two with 2.28 kills per game. Four other greyhounds are above a 1.5 kill per game average each. Junior Cheneta Morrison takes care of setting responsibilities with 10.57 per set, while lone senior Kyleigh Turner (4.8), Callahan (3.02) and Morrison (2.5) split digging duties.
As a team, they average 14.1 kills, 13.1 sets and 16.2 digs per set. Jody Butera leads the Greyhounds in her thirteenth year as head coach with a winning reputation and a 65 percent success rate.
Overall, there are eight regionals for a total of 64 teams. Gonzalez hopes the team can win at least two games to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and the Regional Championship.
“I think we’ve got a blocking advantage, so we’ve got to utilize that,” said Gonzalez. “Most importantly, we need to side out evenly with them. Some of the advantages we have in size and athleticism will help us.”
Michigan Tech and the University of Indianapolis will serve it up in Indianapolis, Ind., at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday, Nov. 19.

Even after losing 3-1 to Saginaw Valley State in the first round of the GLIAC tournament and earning a 14-14 overall record, Michigan Tech will make its second straight NCAA Division II volleyball tournament appearance. Since their overall record is the worst among the 64-team tournament field – only three of the 319 tournament teams in the past five years have entered with a .500 overall record or worse – Michigan Tech’s 10-6 conference record is likely what earned the Huskies their invite.

Read the full story

When the Minnesota State Mavericks joined the WCHA in 1999, the general consensus was that the league was done opening its doors. This seemed evident mainly due to the Bemidji State Beavers’ attempt to get in, only to see the women’s hockey program accepted without the men’s.
This June, head coach Tom Serratore saw his Beavers use their 20-16-1 season, which included a trip to the Frozen Four, to help fulfill their wish to join the nation’s premier league. Serratore’s crew returns top scorer Matt Read, a junior, who notched 40 points last season. Dynamic sophomore defenseman Brad Hunt (9-23=32) also returns as the Beavers will face three current WCHA members this season.
The Beavers had been in desperate need of a home after their league, College Hockey America, lost Niagara University and Robert Morris to Atlantic Hockey. Starting with the 2010-11 season, the WCHA agreed to their application on one condition: there had to be another school interested in joining to keep the numbers even.
Enter the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks who finished eighth in the CCHA last season. Having last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2006, the Mavericks are an interesting bunch. Former North Dakota head coach Dean Blais has taken over a program that boasts three All-Americans in the past 12 seasons. Two of the three, Greg Zanon (Nashville) and Jeff Hoggan (St. Louis, Boston, and Phoenix) have seen significant playing time in the NHL.
Other former Mavericks in the NHL include Bill Thomas (Phoenix and Pittsburg) and Dan Ellis (Nashville).
Blais takes over a veteran squad with 14 upper classmen this season. Senior defenseman Eddie DelGrosso (6-28=34) is the highest scoring returning skater. Juniors Rich Purslow (12-12=24) and Joey Martin (10-14=24) are the top forwards returning.
While the league changes will not take effect this season, it will certainly be interesting to see where these two teams finish in their final audition before joining the WCHA next year.